Tag holder



I. H. GRAY.`

ma HOLDER.

i u APPLICATION FILED MAY5| i921. 1,410,402, Patented Mar. 21,1922.

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UNITED STATES PATENT orties.

ISHMEL H. GRAY, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

TAG HOLDER.

-`To all 'whom 'it may concern: n

Be it known that LISHMAELIH. GRAY, a

Aof Indianapolis,` county of Marion, and .State of Indiana, haveinventedv a certain new and useful'vTagHolder; and I do herebydeclarethat the following is a full, clear, andV exact description thereof,reference being had to the. accompanyingv drawings, in which like,numerals referto like parts.

vThe object of this inventionis to provide an improved means forremovably securing price tags and the like to shelves. t n

One. feature vof the` invention consists in Vproviding aV tag holdermade of resilient wire, f preferably a single wire,- and means forremovably. securing or clamping the tag .holder to the shelf-inrelatively fixed .posi-f y tion, sol that the tag holderfwillreadilyyield I underpressure so as to bend out of the yway and whenthepressure is removed will return to its original. position. lThis ,isimportant because. .customers removing goods from the shelf oftenstrike'the tagand tag mounted or resilient,` theywill be .detached fromthe shelf or bent out'gof `the' correct position. With'thisinventionfthe tag holder. will.; yield `and bend Ywhen interfered with4,and yet remain secured to theshelf and `will f readily return to thenormalpositionA when the disturbing influence ceases.

. Another feature. of the invention consists in forming lthe tag holderand tag so that the latter canreadily be. insertededgewise into thetag-holder and asreadily removedtherefrom. In this connectiontheinvention includes the idea of a coil for receiving one edge, saythefloweredge ofthevtag, and a loop for receiving the opposite edge,saythe upper edge ofthe tag. This enables the tag to bereadily insertedat the top in the loop and' then in the coil in the bottom.` v Anotherfeature ofthe invention consists` in means for securing` thetag holderto the shelf, consisting of a clamp embracingthe 'edgeof the shelf withahole through the fupper end for admitting the tag wire, and aslot.through the Vlower end for admitting the bent inclined lower end of thetag holding wire. A modied form consists in bend-` uing the lower endofV the .tag holding wire in rectangular shape to itonthe front edge andtop or bottom ofthe shelf, land' a loopformed in each of said partsA sothat a.

thumb tack Gambe inserted. through the loop Specification of LettersPat-ent.

Patented Mar. 21V, 192e.

.Application filed `May 5, 1921. Serial No. 467,138.

into the front edge and another into the top yor bottom of the shelfthrough the loops. citizen of the-United States, and a resident Thefullnature yof the invention will be kunderstood. from the' acompanyingdrawings and the follo-wingdescription and claims:

In the drawings, Fig. lis a front elevar,tion of a portion of a shelfand means for holding a tag, parts of the shelf {being1 broken away andthe tag and tag holder being shown kin Aaltered position ,by dottedlines., Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. 1 with the lwith the tag holder. bentforward( Fig. 5

is the same as Fig. 3 with the tag removed.

, Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a tag holder in upright position withthe tag in place and fthe shelfin section anda -modiiied constructionbeing employed kfor :securing the tag Vholder to the shelf. Fig.,7l is afront elevation, ofwhat is shown in Fig. 6 withy a n ifSpecial cardaddediand held by the tag holder.,V Ifrv thel same -are not yieldingly.f v

holder.

- In the drawings herein there is'y shown a edge of a table forholdinggoods, on which itfis desirable to secure a removable tag 11 forindicati-ng the price or other datare` 'Vlating to the goods. The tag 11herein shown is Vpreferably octagonal in formor a rectangular -cardwithv its. corners clipped ...diagonallyfso as to `facilitate itsinsertion into the tag .holder and its removal there-` from, althoughthis invention is not limited to means for holding'an octagonaltag.

i Y The tagholderconsists of a single wire 12 preferably, which isformed into one or more coils 13.in. position toreceive andhold `oneedge of the tag, beingv theY lower edge, and

thence the wire extends upward approximately to theopposite side of thetagand there is bent to form a substantially horis zontal elongated loop14 topartially surround the opposite side and to engage and partiallyenvelopr the `,two lateral corners oredgeportions of thetag,substantially as shown. This lloop in the-form shown issubstantiallyhoriaontal'when the tag holder` yis in normal position, andit Vhas one end bent to envelop .one corner or lateral edge of-the tagvandanother end bent to engage or envelop4 thelopposite corner or edge ofthe tag, SQ that Whenthe tag iS in position,

"so as to forml the bend 21 in its upper edge will extend slightlyabove'surface of the shelf, theV top or the bottom,

said loop 14.

When the tag is octagonal it is more readily insertable in the tagholder than. when in other forms because the corners thereof areinclined. The tag is inserted by first slipping the upper edge into theloop 14, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and inserting the oppositecorner into the coil 13, and then gradually pushing the lower part ofthe tag from the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 to the full lineposition there shown. As the lower ortion of the tag is pushed to theleft in ig. 1, it gradually bends and elevates the right hand end oftheloop 14 until the lower end of the tag slips into the coil, as shown inFigs. 2 and 4. Onecoilat 13 is sufficient, but the invention yis notlimited to onecoil, forV more coils would merely make the tag holder.more readily yielding. i

The lower end of the wire is secured in xed position to the shelf 10 bythe following means. In the first five figures there is la sheet metalclamp 20 adapted to embrace the front portion of a shelf. The central'vertical' portion of said brace, as shown in Fig. 3, extendsappreciably'below the'shelf Y osition to pinch'the shelf in cooperationwith the u 'per part of the clamp and thereby cause"v e clamp to be heldremovably on'the shelf. The-front part of the clamp is also spaced awayfrom the shelf and in the, up ,erpart of the clamp there is a slot 22thro which the lower part of the wire 12 extends. In thelower part ofthe clamp there is a slot f23, vas shown in Fig. 5, through which the 1lower part of the wire 12 extends- The lower end of the, wire 12 isbentI back on itself to form a vertical loop 24 bent substantially asshown from a relatively sharp point at the lower end to a widenedportion and then'V the wire is bent towards t e'body thereof to engagethe innerend of A 23. The vextreme end of the wir`ei12 is bent at aright angle at 25 above Athe lower part of the clamp 20 to'serve as a.stop to limit the downward movement of the tag holder. This enables thewire tag holder to be vertically inserted into the-y clamp until `itreaches the limit of downward movement, as

` shown in` Fig. 5, and be held thereby lfrom 'downward movement by `thestop 25 and from upward movement by the widened portion or the loop at24..

'e The modiliedviornij,l shown in 6 Vand 7 for securing the wire tagholder inplace on the shelf, Vdiscards the use. of an independent clampVand forms the lower part of the wire 12 of the tag holden into two`armsv or portions 30 and 31. TheA portion, 30"' is adiacent one surface,preferably theV frontk surface of the shelf, and isxprovided with a loop32 and the portion 31 engages` another v. 1. A tag holder consisting ofai vent wireforined with a coil to receive oneY vside of .a tag and aresilient loo to receive and is provided with a loop 33 through whichthumb tacks 34 are inserted into the shelf.

Vith this construction of tag holding means, it is apparent that thegoods on the shelf or the arms of the person handling the goods, whenthe same shall engage or press against the tag ortag holder, will notpush it olf the shelf and thus dislodge the tag holder and causeconfusion, but' the tag holder will merely bend'out'of the way by reasonof the resilient character of the wire 12. The coil 13 materiallycontributes to the extent of displacement of the tag holder withoutinterferingv with the` return' of the tag holder to normal positionVwhen the pressure or interference is removed. This saves considerabletime and confusion to` ymerchants and the clerk need not bein fear ofknocking the tag holdery of the shelf while handling the goods thereoniWith the form ofl tag holder herein disclosed the upper loop'14 may beutilized for holding any special advertisements or' cards 35," as shownin Fig. 7. The advertisement or card 35V is preferably held in the loop14 by a tongue 36 and if the card 35 is longer 'than the loop, a notchv37 is provided on each lSiclelef the tongue through which thev loopextends., The tongue is insertable in the loo behind the tag 11.

E is Vnot desired to limit the invention to the .particular constructionof holder shown. so long as it retains the principleof 'Y thisconstruction and operation. The invention claimedis:

single and hold the portion of he t and means forseounng one end of said'wire to a shelf or` the likein fixedV positidn.

L 2. The comb'v a "onlof tag,-

with a coilftoreceive and hold one'sidenof the t-agand a loop alengthgreater than the width ofthe opposite portion of the tag to encircleandlhold the same, and means for securing one end of said wire to ashelf orthelike in xedposition.

3. The combination of a clampformed of sheet metal so Vas to engage and.clamp a shelf or the like,fsaid'pt :lajmp` having opens ings therein,and a tag holder vconsisti wire formedlat one end to receive and old atag'and at the other end being bent back on itself to form a yieldingcontractedhooked portion spaced from the end thereof, Wheresaid wire tat rough` the opemngs in the clamp and frictionally and Ayieldinglyengage said clamp within'one. of said openings for releasably supportingthe tag holder in connection therewith,substantiallyasdescribed. l

' 4. The combination oa clamp formed' of VofaV e @lideres `holderVconsisting of a resilent'wire formed' holder` may be yinserted' sheetmetal bent so as to provide end portions to engage and clamp the top andbottom of the shelf or the like and an intermediate portion to extendacross the front edge surface of the shelf and wider than said frontedge surface and one of said end portions being bent towards the otherso as to form a rib for frictiona-lly engaging the shelf and havingopenings in both end portions adjacent the intermediate portion, and atag holder consisting of a Wire formed at one endto receive and hold atag and the other end being bent back on i'tself to form. and have acontracted portion away from the end thereof, whereby said wire tagholder can be inserted through the openings in the clamp and willfrictionally engage the clamp at one of said openings for releasablysupporting the tag holder in connection with the clamp.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

' rsi-IMAEL H. GRAY.

